The chair of a committee in the US House of Representatives is calling on TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to provide answers regarding the video app’s measures to safeguard children from inappropriate content and potential exploitation. Chew’s testimony is scheduled for March 23, marking his first appearance before Congress.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, emphasized the importance of understanding the steps TikTok is taking to ensure the safety of children from both online and offline dangers. In December, she, along with other GOP lawmakers, expressed concerns in a letter to TikTok about the exposure of children to excessive inappropriate content that the app’s algorithm promotes. They also pointed out that TikTok’s live-streaming feature potentially enables adult users to incentivize children to perform sexually suggestive acts.
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, has previously stated that the Biden administration threatened to impose a ban on the app if the Chinese parent company did not divest its ownership. McMorris Rodgers reiterated the need for transparency about how TikTok might compromise American users’ privacy and how their data may be influenced by its connection to the Chinese government.
This month, TikTok announced plans to develop a tool that would enable parents to restrict their teens from accessing content containing specific words or hashtags. The company has also introduced new features aimed at limiting the time users, especially those under 18, can spend on the platform. Users within this age group will face an automatic daily time limit of one hour, after which they will need a passcode to continue using the app.
Negotiations between TikTok and the Biden administration have been ongoing for over two years regarding data security standards. TikTok claims to have invested more than $1.5 billion in enhancing its data security protocols while vigorously denying any allegations of espionage.
The call for divestiture from the Biden administration represents a significant escalation in the actions taken by US officials concerning TikTok and its operations within the country.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
